The Indian Army has begun a number of programmes to improve the status of women in the border villages of North Kashmir's Kupwara region, which are near to the Line of Control.
In the district's isolated town of Dudi Macchil, dozens of women are receiving sanitary pad manufacturing training. There, a sanitary pad manufacturing facility has been established by an NGO and the Indian Army. These sanitary napkins are completely biodegradable and produced using low-tech equipment that women can run very fast.
Women from the hamlet who were trained in the production of pads and equipment maintenance underwent a thorough training programme. Women willingly participated in the training and successfully launched the production of sanitary pads.
The girls from the Army Goodwill School in Raghavan and the Government Higher Secondary School in Dudi will utilise these pads, according to Brigadier Vinod Singh Negi of the Indian Army.
Additionally, sanitary pad selling machines and incinerators (a furnace for burning waste) were put in place at these schools by the Indian Army and an NGO. Depending on the daily output, the local women will be able to support themselves. The region will benefit from this project's promotion of menstrual health awareness and hygiene.
As part of the skill development initiative, the ladies were furthermore handed sewing machines. They will receive training in tailoring, for which they will be given raw materials.
The women of this isolated town are overjoyed and grateful that the unit has been set up. '' Such initiatives will empower us and we will also be able to earn a livelihood. We are thankful to the Indian Army for such initiatives. The women living in the border areas require such initiatives immensely,'' said Zubina, a beneficiary.
The Indian Army intends to implement the same initiatives in neighbouring communities as well.
